Are torpedo-killing torpedoes ready for prime time?
By Sebastian Sprenger
Thursday, Nov 3
WASHINGTON — Manufacturers are pitching new products for neutralizing torpedoes, the most dogged enemy of surface ships, as those weapons are becoming smart enough to tip the balance of power in naval battles.
Judging by the offerings at the Euronaval trade show in Paris last month, there is a trend among developers to offer kinetic, or hard-kill, interceptors capable of overcoming the seeker trickery that large, modern torpedoes now boast to sniff out targets.
The concept of blowing up torpedoes as they approach follows a trend of decoys becoming increasingly ineffective against torpedoes capable of turning around and reengaging a ship after missing it on the first pass — potentially for hours, said Johannes Peters, a naval analyst at Kiel University in Germany.
The global proliferation of torpedo-carrying submarines makes the challenge all the more grave, he said. “Submarines are the weapon of choice to challenge a superior surface navy,” he explained.
https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2022/11/04/are-torpedo-killing-torpedoes-ready-for-prime-time/
